WELCOME TO MAYFLY TELEVISION
An independent production company established to create beautifully crafted television, film and digital content for the UK and beyond.
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Our broadcast series, digital content and feature documentary work has won broad critical acclaim and several major awards.
OUR PRODUCTIONS
No Strings is our mischievous puppet show that lip-syncs real-life recordings of people who don’t want to be on television, telling true stories they would never say on camera that reveal what’s really going on in Britain - off screen.
Created by Mayfly Television for Channel 4 No Strings piloted under Channel 4’s ‘Mini-Blap’ digital comedy shorts strand as four short-form episodes each introducing a puppet version of a real person who has a story they want shown on TV – as long as their face isn’t. The series attracted millions of views on Channel 4's social platforms.
The project was created and directed by Mayfly's Marcus Stephenson and produced in collaboration with - and dedicated to, the late, veteran puppeteer and puppet maker Phil Eason (The Dark Crystal, Spitting Image).
PHIL SPENCER'S
STATELY HOMES
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3 SERIES
Our popular heritage format was devised by Marcus Stephenson and first commissioned as a 6 x 60 minute series by Channel 4 and first aired on More 4, followed by prime time Sunday night airings on Channel 4.
The series explores the creation of Britain's priceless historic homes to reveal how they were built - and how much they cost in today's money, and with unprecedented access to the archives - and historic bills - of the very finest buildings in Britain from Longleat House and Castle Howard to Woburn Abbey and Blenheim Palace.
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Taking each house back to the drawing board, Phil is given unprecedented access into fascinating stately home archives, to reveal the incredible ambition of the house’s creators, as well as the monumental quantities of materials, labour - and money - involved in turning their flights of fancy into bricks and mortar.
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The series received excellent reviews, listings pick of the days, and was one of the highest performing shows on More4. The show was recommissioned for a second and third series, all of which have sold to overseas channels, doing particularly well in Australia and Canada!
Our first feature documentary and winner of the BIFA Raindance Discovery Award, Children of the Snow Land tells the story of children born in the High Himalayas of Nepal who have to leave their families behind for a chance of a better life through education.
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Spending up to 12 years at a residential school in the capital Kathmandu, the children can not see nor speak to their parents, due to the remoteness of their Himalayan homes.
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Upon graduation, aged 16, the children trek home, an arduous and lengthy journey across mountains that takes them to the highest inhabited place on the planet; a faraway, off-grid land where the way of life has not changed for thousands of years, and where their parents are waiting to see their children.
Children of the Snow Land documents their moving and humbling journey home.
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The film was produced and directed by Mayfly's Marcus Stephenson and Zara Balfour (Picture on the Wall) and has won more than 10 Best Film awards internationally as well as being translated and broadcast on national television in many countries worldwide.
The film also toured schools in the UK, Nepal and internationally as part of the project's social goals to help Nepalese children to have an education without sacrificing all contact with family; and providing inspiration and perspective for children at school in the UK.
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Bear Grylls says: "An incredibly inspiring story from the roof of the world where families struggle and sacrifice everything to help their children…"
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Joanna Lumley says: "This is a stunning film: and I hope it will prompt generous donations towards a better system of pastoral care in this awesome Himalayan region.”
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Sir Chris Bonington says: "Congratulations on your wonderful film. I greatly appreciate how valuable your work is and do hope your film leads to generous donations for the wonderful work you are doing to promote better pastoral care in these remote himalayan areas."
​Britain At Dinner is an observational documentary food series format created by Mayfly Television. The show was commissioned as a 30 minute broadcast pilot by Channel 4 and the format optioned by Fremantle for international distribution. The show explores food culture from the heart of every home - the kitchen! - and used fixed rig filming to capture natural family interaction along with interviews with family members of all ages in homes across the country to reveal the pivotal part food plays in family live. The show revealed what we eat as a nation, how roles are changing in the modern British kitchen, and celebrates how cooking and eating brings us all together.
PEOPLE
Marcus Stephenson
Creative Director & Founder
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Marcus is a multi award winning Creative Director with 25 years experience in broadcast television and branded communication and a passion for innovative, well crafted and entertaining factual television, and as a shooting director and editor has built a reputation for heartfelt storytelling with beautiful photography. Several of his original broadcast concepts have been commissioned by major broadcasters and there are more in the pipeline.
His proudest achievement to date is the feature length documentary ‘Children of the Snowland’ co produced /directed with Zara Balfour. The film has won more than 10 'Best Film' awards around the world and enjoyed an extended national cinema run in Curzon cinemas. The film was shortlisted for the prestigious Grierson Award for Best Cinema Documentary and won the BIFA Raindance Discovery Award.
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Marcus is currently working on a new documentary about modern slavery in partnership with UK charities​, as well as producing branded content for a diverse range of sector-leading British businesses. Always open to collaboration and creative opportunities, please email if you have a project or brief you'd like to discuss.
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Email | marcus@mayflytv.com
GET IN TOUCH
PHONE
020 3305 9907
OFFICE
Mayfly Television,
1st Floor, Mappin House
4 Winsley St
London
W1W8HF